1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to data processing and communication systems, and more particularly, to a system and method of linking terrestrial mail to the global computer network, e.g., the Internet, and for replying to the terrestrial mail, previewing the terrestrial mail, and digitally utilizing the terrestrial mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ten of billions of pieces of terrestrial mail arrive yearly to recipients. The mail comes in many forms including but not limited to general correspondence, billing statements, invoices for payments, brochures and catalogs, coupon offers, and greeting cards among others. Generally, terrestrial mail is delivered through various services such as the United States Postal Service and premium services such as UPS™, FEDEX™ and DHL™ to name a few. Delivery of such terrestrial mail is dependent upon many factors including weather conditions, manpower at the delivery service, etc. which effect the speed of delivery.
Many if not most of these mail recipients have Internet access. No way currently exists to link the articles of terrestrial mail to the Internet so that the recipient can easily reply to or utilize the content contained in the originally sent mail.
Therefore, a need exists for techniques to allow a user, e.g., a sender or recipient of terrestrial mail, to link the terrestrial mail to a remote server accessible over the Internet so subsequent recipients can easily and quickly reply to the terrestrially received mail.